


4 times tsukishima dropped it + 1 time he didnt

by ti_30xa, trogoodkoe



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Pining, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, assume yamaguchi saw tsukkis foot at some point, can’t believe tht them being in hs is an au now.., it’s one scene ., stupid idiot tsukishima, yamaguchi foot lover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2020-03-31
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:07:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23415778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ti_30xa/pseuds/ti_30xa, https://archiveofourown.org/users/trogoodkoe/pseuds/trogoodkoe
Summary: Tsukishima knows Yamaguchi very well. From the 129 freckles dotting his face up to the way that he genuinely cannot hide a secret. When Yamaguchi tries hiding something (well...something seemingly important) from Tsukishima for the first time, it throws him for a loop.Call it being thrown off kilter, surprised, or… God forbid.. coming to terms with his feelings, but Tsukishima is left to figure out what exactly Yamaguchi is thinking.
Relationships: Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 7
Kudos: 220





	4 times tsukishima dropped it + 1 time he didnt

1.

Tsukishima couldn’t read minds, but with Yamaguchi he was pretty close. He had a lot of obvious and subtle tells when he was hiding things. The worst one was his habit of avoiding the subject of his plights. Yamaguchi could not hide from Tsukishima. 

When dealing with your elusive Yamaguchi, there are many methods you could use. Excluding physical force (which Tsukishima is sure that Yamaguchi would find it in his lizard brain to enjoy), Yamaguchi was absolutely helpless to anything that involved him being the center of attention.

Tsukishima decided that being direct was the only way to figure this out. First, Yamaguchi folded like a card every time confrontation came up. Literally. He would flop to the ground. Next, in a somewhat terrifying combination, Yamaguchi was horrible at lying. He just couldn’t find it in his heart to deceive others. This mindset did not extend to when they played Mario Kart. Yamaguchi Tadashi is a dirty cheater.

“Tadashi, I feel like you’ve been hiding something.” They were seated in their homeroom, the class empty of other students. It was so quiet Tsukishima could almost hear the jackhammering of Yamaguchi’s heart. 

“I have absolutely  _ no _ idea what you could mean, Tsukki!” Yamaguchi’s eyebrows were struggling to stay furrowed, and a lone bead of sweat rolled down his face. The school was always air conditioned.

Tsukishima resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He set down his pencil and turned towards Yamaguchi, moving his bag to block his feet. “Do I need to haggle you to get the truth? I don't want to haggle you, Tadashi. I’m very good at haggling.” 

Yamaguchi gulped, and pointedly avoided eye contact. “Yuh-you see, Tsukki, I just.. I have a killer headache right now! I just didn't want to bother you with my complaining.” Yamaguchi continued to stare at the speck of lint on his slacks. 

Tsukishima narrowed his eyes. Well, this was much smaller than what he imagined. “You thought that I would be bothered by you being in pain? Do you hear yourself? Come here.” Tsuksihima moved his things off of his desk and got out of his seat.

Yamaguchi’s eyes widened, he looked like a very frightened duck. It was adorable. Tsukishima’s fondness aside, Yamaguchi was still sitting in his seat.

Tsukishima sighed, and pulled Yamaguchi out of his desk, ignoring the resulting protests. “I'm going to give you a scalp massage.” Seeing the way Yamaguchi’s ears reddened at the sentence, Tsukishima couldn’t help but be absolutely insufferable.

“Unless you don't want that seat? Do you want to sit in my lap — I’m very comfortable.”

Yamaguchi scrambled for something to grab onto, nearly knocking Tsukishima out in the process. “N-no need! No need, Tsukki!” He jumped out of Tsukishima’s grip, moving to leave the classroom. “Isn’t it a bit weird for me to ask you to do that here? We’re a bit too old now, too. Haha…” He scratched his ear, and (very obviously) tried not to look like he wanted to jump out of the nearest window. 

Tsukishima’s eyelid twitched, and he resisted the urge to pull Yamaguchi towards him. “Is there an issue with me wanting to look after you? We do this all the time.” Nevermind the fact that Yamaguchi fell asleep with his head in Tsukishima’s lap last week. Yes, nevermind.

“Ah, Tsukki… No, there’s nothing like that. Just.. What if your soulmate were to see you like that with me? They’d totally get the wrong idea!”

“I don’t care. If they were my soulmate they’d understand that I’m not interested in shotgun relationships. Come over here.”

Tsukishima hadn’t gotten his mark yet, anyway.

Yamaguchi began walking more quickly towards the door. Tsukishima followed.

“Why are you running?!”

“I am  _ not _ running! I’m getting my steps in. Don’t fo— HELP!”

Tsukishima dug his fingers into Yamaguchi’s scalp, minding the back of his skull. Hinata had yelled something about a diarrhea pressure point earlier in the week and Tsukishima wasn’t interested in finding out where it was.

“I’m going to figure you out, anyway. Let’s go sit down, the bell is about to ring and I can’t handle a swarm of cockroaches.” Almost immediately after Tsukishima uttered those words, the bell sounded over the speakers. A rush of footsteps could be heard as students began walking back to their classes. 

As their peers came in, they both returned to their seats. Yamaguchi’s expression was a bit more panicked than usual.

————

“You don’t actually mind me petting you like that, do you?”

“Of course not, Tsukki! I was just being stupid..”

“Something that seems to be happening more frequently..?”

“Yes. Please don’t question it.”

  
  
  
  


2.

Saturdays have been Tsukishima’s favorite part of the week for a few years now. Tsukishima enjoyed the annoyed looks Yamaguchi gave his non sentient notebook, the way Yamaguchi began tying his hair up to see better, the fact that he was growing his hair out at all.

Saturdays were for Yamaguchi...and studying. It has only been 15 minutes since they sat down to do exactly that.

“Tsukki,” Yamaguchi was already whining, ”I can’t take this anymore.” He slammed his books shut, and tried to look as sternly as he could at Tsukishima. “Do we really need to study the Japanese language?”

Tsukishima opened Yamguchi’s books back up, ignoring his whining. “You’re asking me if you need to study the language of the country you live in? I don’t know, Tadashi, you should figure it out then tell me.” 

Yamaguchi let out a particularly long-suffering groan at that before he picked back up from where he stopped studying. “Tsukki! This is cruel. Genuinely cruel!” He turned an imploring look towards Tsukishima, begging for sympathy that he did not have. “Don’t even try to defend this! You think the Bill Gates... Bill Gates-es of the world needed to study Japanese? No!” Yamaguchi slammed his fist on his dining table, “They’re studying freaking computers. Let’s go play games, Tsukki.”

Tsukishima’s gaze wandered from Yamaguchi’s bright eyes to the pout that was slowly forming on his lips. Have they always looked that soft? “Brave of you to think I’ll defend busy work. But if you want to fail classes on a language you’re fluent in, then you can continue crying.” He pointedly looked away from Yamaguchi’s cute face.  _ Cute face… God help me. He’s loveable even when he’s being annoying.  _

“We can mess around with your computer afterwards since you need it so badly. I don’t even know why I try to help you anymore.” Yamaguchi let out a little whoop at that, ignoring how he flung his pencil behind him. Meanwhile, Tsukishima dismissed the flutter in his chest.

They were at Yamaguchi’s house this time around. It was his turn to host on their alternating “study” schedule. Tsukishima would rather lose a few inches off his height before admitting it, but he much preferred Yamaguchi’s house to his. The usual absence of adults, the nonexistent threat of his brother barging in to give him knowing looks, and even better, Yamaguchi was there. It was paradise. 

Tsukishima tried to ignore the fact that Yamaguchi had been hiding the palm of his hand the entire time they studied. It was probably nothing.

  
  
  


3.

Tsukishima Kei does not eat lunch. This was probably why he was bordering on being slightly too skinny, but he could not remember the last time he packed lunch and brought it to school. Maybe he had the odd banana here or there, or perhaps a box of juice, but never a meal. 

You could imagine his surprise, then, when Yamaguchi turned around as the bell rang for lunch to deposit a bento box on his desk. It was tied in a green tyrannosaurus-dotted cloth.  _ Cute.. _

“Tadashi,” Tsukishima said gently, looking pointedly at the boy. “What’s this?”

“Um, well,” Yamaguchi was understandably embarrassed. “It’s lunch! For you. I know you don’t normally eat lunch, but you must be hungry, what with you being so tall and all…” The school had performed general check-ups earlier that week, and Tsukishima had grown a few inches. He was now standing at a whopping six foot three.

“That’s ridiculous, Tadashi. Growing two inches doesn’t mean I’m suddenly starving if I don’t eat three square meals a day. I can maintain homeostasis just fine.” Yamaguchi’s face became crestfallen, his obnoxious cowlick seeming to droop with the rest of him.

“Oh, okay. Sorry Tsukki.”  _ Oh fuck. No, don’t be sad you little cretin. _

“It’s alright, I won’t let your mother’s efforts go to waste.” Tsukishima said this as he untied the cloth, observing what had been prepared for him.

“Um, actually Tsukki,  _ I  _ made that for you.” The vegetables had carefully been cut into floral shapes. A wave of embarrassment flooded through him, Tsukishima averting his gaze from the food that had obviously been made with care. It was sickeningly domestic.

Tsukishima Kei was about to shed his first tear since he’d been shot out of the womb. Still, this was a bit confusing.

_ Alright, now tell him you appreciate it! Then hold hands and run into the sunset.  _ Tsukishima Kei hates his own narration.

“When did you learn how to cook?” 

_ Fuck. _

Yamaguchi suddenly looked flustered. He ducked and brushed a stray lock of hair behind his ear, “Ah...well, you see Tsukki…” Yamaguchi suddenly forgot how to make eye contact, “I’ve been learning for a little while now. I wanted to show you first!” 

Tsukishima felt the tell-tale signs of a blush forming on the back of his neck. Soon, he could be likened to the very carefully cut tomatoes Yamaguchi had in his box. “Not that I don’t appreciate it,” He began, “But this is an awful lot of effort for someone who isn’t your soulmate. What’s the occasion?”

Yamaguchi seemed to shrink in on himself, and his articulation worsened. “Um, well, I… You’re… Uh, haha, I just wanted to practice!” Despite his flaming face, he perched himself on the edge of Tsukishima’s desk with his elbows, expression nothing short of earnest. The nervous puppy dog eyes aimed his way made Tsukishima feel positively sinful. “Let me know what you think!”

_ If I don’t shower him in compliments, I will keel over and die. It will happen. I will be the first man to die by Yamaguchi Tadashi.  _ Tsukishima recalled how Yamaguchi was clueless to the fact that he viciously rejected a classmate in their third year of middle school.  _ Second man to die by Yamaguchi Tadashi. _

Tsukishima deadpanned, “It’s pretty good, I guess.”  _ Death penalty! _

Yamaguchi gave him a large smile that brightened his eyes then turned back to his own lunch, “I’ll keep at it!”

  
  


4.

Yamaguchi had bought them tickets to the museum. There was a new dinosaur exhibit, and Tsukishima knew his friend would bring it up sooner or later.

As they were settling into their seats at the start of class, he felt a tug on his sleeve. “Tsukki!” Yamaguchi’s face was awfully flushed, with a smile that was spread so wide it looked painful. “I have a present for you.”

“A present?” His tone was dubious. It wasn’t unusual for Yamaguchi to get him small trinkets from time to time, but he'd been acting very oddly over the past week. Was this related in any way?

“Yep!” He popped the p, digging in his bag and pulling out a ragged envelope. Tsukishima resisted the urge to wrinkle his nose at the disheveled wrapping, tearing it open with his pencil.  _ Tickets…  _

“For the museum?” Obviously it was for the museum, that's what was printed on the laminated paper. Tsukishima could read. Very well, he might add. A mostly literate monkey. 

“Yeah, for the museum! They have a new dinosaur exhibit that I—,” Yamaguchi looked to the side, “I thought you might enjoy it.”  _ So nervous, all the time _ . Why was Yamaguchi so nervous? 

He’s been skittish since they were children, but that was always around  _ others _ . He was never nervous around  _ Tsukishima _ . What was going on? It was driving them both crazy.

Of course, he could voice his worries. If Yamaguchi wanted to hide something, then he could go ahead and hide it.  _ But what if it was serious? _ Well, Tsukishima hoped that Yamaguchi would give up on his martyr silences. “Alright. We can go over the weekend.” 

Yamaguchi seemed to redden even more. “O-okay!” His voice cracked in the beginning. He then hid his face in his arms to calm down. 

_ What the hell? _

“Tadashi.”

Yamaguchi peeked out from underneath his bangs,”Yes?”

“Thank you.” Tsukishima gave him a shy smile.

\--

When the day arrived, it was terribly cold. Tsukishima opened the window in his bedroom and sighed, tugging on a sweater and smoothing down his hair in his bathroom mirror. Tsukishima styled his hair everyday. Yes. This was normal behavior.

Tsukishima rubbed at his glasses; With all the physics involved in making sure his lenses worked the way they should, going as far as working with thin film interference in order for them not to reflect, they couldn’t stop the glass from fogging. He sighed again before he heard his doorbell ring.

Yamaguchi’s face was an ugly strawberry against the bitter winter wind. “Ready to go?” He asked cheerfully. Tsukishima wrinkled his nose.

“Of course you’d be fine in this weather. Come in, I want to make coffee.” Yamaguchi shuffled inside, politely removing his shoes so as to not track muddy snow inside. Tsukishima eyed his outfit, giving him a slow once over. Much to his delight, a dark flush rode up Yamaguchi’s neck and brightened his ears. 

“Did you slip on ice or something? You look like you’re covered in half the countryside.” He filled up a kettle and set it on the stove, turning the dial and earning a satisfying clicking sound. He could hear Yamaguchi’s socks sliding on his wood floor and the sound of a cabinet opening and closing.  _ Getting my mug, probably. _ This was proven correct as Tsukishima turned to see the boy deliberating his answer, grip frozen on a stegosaurus mug. 

“Yeah, uh, I fell on the way here.” His ears were still lit with internal fire, causing Tsukishima to roll his eyes. 

“Always so clumsy. Are you alright?” He encroached upon Yamaguchi’s personal space, watching his adam’s apple bob aggressively as he gulped. Tsukishima’s hands settled on Yamaguchi’s. He could almost see his poor lizard brain short-circuiting. 

“Uh, yes! Y-yeah, I’m okay. I’m doing very well, actually!” Yamaguchi’s hands were getting sweaty (another nervous tell). “It’s such a beautiful morning, Tsukki.” Eye contact was deliberately avoided, and of course, Yamaguchi‘s face was still red.. Tsukishima huffed a short laugh, shaking his head affectionately.

“My cup. I’m just trying to get my cup. You can let go now.” As if his hands were suddenly aflame, Yamaguchi let the mug go, quickly backing away and putting a hand to his chest. 

_ To calm his racing heart?  _ Tsukishima Kei, you disgusting romantic.

Tsukishima watched as Yamaguchi lumbered about his kitchen, steps unusually deliberate. He narrowed his eyes at this behavior; Yamaguchi Tadashi was an absolute tyrant. With the knowledge that Tsukishima’s mother and older brother absolutely adored him, Yamaguchi was always comfortable in their house. 

“Your kung-fu grip on my mug has me very worried, Tadashi. Is there an issue?” Tsukishima took in a long sip of coffee, “Nervous about meeting your ancestors?”

Yamaguchi whirled around and gave Tsukishima a half-hearted glare. “You're throwing stones from a glass house, Tsukki.”

Tsukisima raised a thin brow at him, and took another meaningful sip from his cup. “Oh? How so?”

Yamaguchi’s face took on that gremlin smirk of his, the one he only ever really wore when they played around. “Your neck reminds me of a particular dinosaur… You don’t know your dad’s side of the family very well, do you?”

“Are you implying my mother fucked a dinosaur?”

“...Perhaps. Have you ever asked?”

“Tadashi, are you telling me to ask my mother if she’s had sex with an extinct reptile? Are you calling my mother old?” Tsukishima held back a particularly loud laugh, “Tell me, Tadashi, does she look hag aged to you?”

Yamaguchi let out an unattractive snort. Tsukishima absolutely did not gaze at him fondly.

“You’re missing the point! Anyways,” Yamaguchi aggressively tapped his pointer finger on the tickets, “We are going here. Today. Right now. Let’s go, Tsukki.”

The admission clerk looked suicidal, frankly. Tsukishima tried his best to recreate her lack of emotion.  _ I love her lack of energy! Go girl! Give us nothing!  _ He snickered as he handed her the tickets and followed Yamaguchi into the open building, the shorter boy’s eyes wide open with wonder.

_ Tsukishima Kei was giving Yamaguchi more attention than the exhibit of his major interest. Very funny! _

“Look Tsukki! It’s a T-Rex!” The Freckled One pointed excitedly at a massive skeleton of some carnivorous dinosaur, looking over his shoulder at the blond string bean. Tsukishima had enough self control not to blush. He tried to peer at the information sign, realized his glasses did not have a strong enough prescription for him to see that far, and decided to flex his questionably intricate dinosaur knowledge. 

“Actually, Tadashi,” He pushed the wire frames closer to his nose. “That’s a tarbosaurus.”

Yamaguchi threw his head back and laughed. “Okay, Tsukki. Would you like to be left alone with the tarbosaurus? I mean, not to kinkshame you, but you’re in public right now...”

Tsukishima was rightfully abashed.

“No, let’s just go to the next one.” Tsuksihima ignored the heat at the back of his neck. Yamaguchi Tadashi would not win today. 

He grabbed Tsukishima’s hand and pulled him to the next exhibit, oblivious to the emotions running through the blonde boy’s brain.

They spent another three hours at the museum before leaving for ice cream. Yamaguchi ordered a mint chocolate abomination while Tsukishima chose a plain vanilla cone. Tsukishima noticed an opportunity to be a horrible person and in true Tsukishima fashion, he took it.

“Tadashi… don’t you think it’s funny how our personas are reflected in these ice cream choices? Me, the perfect angel with beautiful skin; You, demon who is evil, green and stinky.”

Yamaguchi had the audacity to look confused. “You, an angel? Tsukishima, you’re an atheist. You‘re not getting anywhere near heaven.”

“Bold of you to say that to me when I'm sure you're practicing some voodoo.”

“It's not voodoo, it’s astrology.”

“So… voodoo with planets?”

Yamaguchi took a bite of his ice cream, “You’re only acting like this because Mercury is in retrograde. I'm telling you that you Capricorn suns are always like this.”

_ Mercury in gatorade… _

“Tadashi, I have no idea what you just said.”  _ I will support you anyway! You look very pretty today! _

Yamaguchi sobered up from laughing and suddenly looked nauseous. He brushed back his hair with his hands, “Ah… Tsukki, there’s something I brought you here for.” He began fidgeting in his seat. A nervous air surrounded him.

Tsukishima took a break from eating his ice cream to look up at him. “Don’t even think about what you want to say. Just get it out with, Tadashi.”

Yamaguchi deflated like a balloon, almost as if to say “Too late, Tsukki!”

_ Was he going to tell me what’d been on his mind for the past week? _

“Nevermind, Tsukki! Swap with me?” Yamaguchi gave him a wobbly smile.

_ Nope. _

  
  
  


+1 

Yamaguchi had always enjoyed soggy french fries. The ones that were at the bottom of the bag, usually unwanted and soaked with grease. Tsukishima enjoyed using this as a metaphor for Yamaguchi himself.

“Y’know,” Tsukishima began on an unusually bad afternoon. Yamaguchi had been quiet and reflective the entire day, frowning often and never chiming in when Tsukishima joked. “Those french fries. They may not look super good at first glance, but once you taste them you realize they’re the best of the bunch.”

All he got was a sideways glance. Tsukishima huffed. “What I’m trying to say is: I’m not sure what’s getting you down, but if you’re worried about your appearance again, realize that you’re, um. One of the best, I suppose. Even if you or some others don’t think so.”  _ God, why was that so awkward? Why am I not speaking well? This isn’t going how I thought it would. _

Despite Tsukishima internally fretting over his awkward speech, it seemed to help a little. Yamaguchi gave him a small smile, hands running over his pants in a nervous manner. “Thanks, Tsukki. That’s not why I’ve been quiet today, though. Sorry. I’m just thinking about something.”

“Two heads are better than one, idiot.” He pushed up his glasses. “If you’re confused about something, I can try to help you understand.”

Yamaguchi had a panicked look in his eye, fidgeting more violently. He ran his fingers through his hair, the brown locks sticking up against the intrusion. “Um, I— no. That’s alright. This is something more personal.”

“Personal?,” Tsukishima ignored the hurt in his own voice, “Tadashi, we’ve been friends for way too long for you to shut me out. If something personal is causing you stress, I think I should know about it.” Yamaguchi deliberated this, his mouth twisting into a grimace. There was a beat of silence that stretched into a few more, before the ongoing moment convinced Tsukishima that he wasn’t planning on answering at all. 

He stared at Yamaguchi, whose gaze was beginning to go blank. “Hey!” He snapped his fingers, trying to grab attention. “Stop zoning out. What’s wrong with you?” 

Yamaguchi jerked back and hid his face in his hands, shaking his head. “Sorry, Tsukki! I don’t want to talk about it.” 

Tsukishima decided to drop the subject. For now.

\--

The bell rang to signal the end of the school day. Tsukishima slammed his books shut and grabbed Yamaguchi’s wrist, dragging him down the steps and out of the school. They were walking in the opposite direction of their homes. 

“Tsukki!” He squealed, Yamaguchi’s face somehow defied every biological concept and was the most vibrant shade of white that Tsukishima had ever seen. His eyes were trained on the pale hand almost touching his own. “Wh-what are you doing? Where are we going?”

“We’re going to McDonald’s. I’m getting you your stupid fries and we’re going to talk.”

It was a fifteen minute walk that turned out to be very uncomfortable in its silence. Tsukishima hadn’t relinquished his hold on his friend, partially because he was afraid Yamaguchi would run off like a frightened rabbit and partially because he simply didn’t feel like it. Yamaguchi hadn’t uttered a word since they left the school, instead choosing to awkwardly glance around from time to time. 

_ What are you looking for?  _

The thought stayed with Tsukishima until they reached the entrance of the restaurant. Fluorescent lights caused Yamaguchi to look even more sickly.

Yamaguchi abruptly tore himself away. He looked around again. 

  
“What are you looking for?” Tsukishima finally voiced, irritation prickling at his skin. “Were you searching for people this entire time?”

Yamaguchi’s reaction was enough of an answer, flushing hard and curling his arms around himself. 

“Why?” Tsukishima narrowed his eyes again, heart beginning to beat nervously in his chest. “What’s going on, Tadashi? Are you ashamed to be seen with me?” His voice trailed off in the end, his own weakness shining through.   
  


“What? No, Tsukki!” Yamaguchi frantically waved his hands around. “It’s not that at all!”

“Then what?” His voice became awfully monotone.  _ I’m done with this nonsense.  _

“I just, it. You. Ugh,” he scrubbed a hand over his face in frustration. “I don’t know if you want to be seen like that,” Yamaguchi gestured at Tsukishima’s hand. “With me.”

“Is this about the soulmate thing again? Like I said before, I haven’t gotten my mark yet. And frankly, I don’t really care. If my soulmate thinks that me grabbing your wrist means I prefer you over them, then it sucks to be them.”  _ I probably will, anyway. _

“Okay, Tsukki.” Yamaguchi sighed.

Tsukishima shook his head, pulling open the door. “After you.”

\--

They sat in a corner booth, Tsukishima eyeing the questionably clean table before just wiping it down with napkins. Yamaguchi, of course, got fries while he nursed a coke, pushing up his glasses before attempting another conversation.

“I mean it, Tadashi. I don’t mind being affectionate with you in public. Unless you’re uncomfortable with that..?”

“No, I’m not.” He shoved a few fries in his mouth, wiping the grease off his fingers. “Are you sure you haven’t gotten your mark?”

“Yes, I’m sure. Why are you asking?” Why would Yamaguchi be so persistent? Unless—

Tsukishima shot his hand forward and grabbed Yamaguchi’s again, intertwining their fingers and inspected his hands.

There was a strawberry nestled in the crease between Yamaguchi’s left thumb and the palm of his hand. 

Tsukishima aggressively toned down the unknown feeling in his gut. 

_ Jealousy, you blind fool.  _

“Oh...you got your mark. Have you figured it out who it is yet? Is this why— Oh…of course. It is.”

Tsukishima let out a watery laugh. “This is why you didn’t want to hold hands, right? You don’t want  _ your _ soulmate to think we’re together.”

Yamaguchi looked as though he’d been slapped. “Th-that’s not it at all!”

“Really? Then have you spoken to them and made sure this was okay?” He nodded to their joined hands. “Or did you treat them like how you’re treating me?”

Yamaguchi’s eyes took on a murderous glint, his fingers tightened around Tsukishima’s before he ripped his hand out of its hold. “Well, Tsukk—Tsukishima,” He stuttered over the unfamiliar name, “My soulmate already knows we’re holding hands!”

Tsukishima hid his surprise, instead raising an eyebrow. “Oh? Who might this merciful soulmate be, then?”

“You.” Yamaguchi deadpanned.

“Hueh?”

Tsukishima felt his stomach drop. 

“Take off your shoes.”  _ Yamaguchi Tadashi’s first order of business with his soulmate is to see how their toes look? Suspicious. _

His dread mixed with confusion. “Take off my— We’re in a fucking McDonald’s. Do you know how dirty this floor is?”

“It’s not that dirty! They clean sometimes.”

“I’m going to get a rare cancer from some mutated amalgamation of toe fungus. It will be your fault, Tadashi. Is this what you want for our future?”

They both froze.

Tsukishima felt his eye twitch. 

“O-our future?”

A rare heat crept up Tsukishima’s face, “Uh, I mean.”  _ Don’t make a fool of yourself, Kei. _

“Fuck, okay. There’s no saving this. Let’s date.”

_ Damn it. _

Yamaguchi somehow became more excited after this. He aggressively gestured towards Tsukishima’s feet, eyes shining rather beautifully in contrast to the flickering lights around them. “Take them off!”

Taukishima slipped off his boots and minutely hesitated before taking off his socks too. Yamaguchi glanced up for permission, and after he nodded his head he turned Tsukishima’s foot towards him. 

On the sole of his foot, a strawberry sat in the center. 

Tsukishima felt like he was going to have a stroke. 

“Tsukki! Can you believe it? I didn’t even have to show you the mark. Y’know, I was so scared you’d feel obligated to be with me because of it. That’s why I never really mentioned anything. I know you’re not the type, but I felt so evil! Like a mother trapping a husband with a baby. You know… emotional blackmail. Dr. Phil material, the alternate reality of—“

Tsukishima leaned forward and threw all caution to the wind. Their lips stayed motionless together for a few seconds before Yamaguchi got the courage to deepen their kiss. 

Tsukishima didn’t really know what he was doing. It was okay, though. Yamaguchi was just as clueless. They blindly locked lips until they found a nice rhythm. Tsukishima could almost forget the ominous lighting and the fact that they hadn't seen an employee in thirty minutes. 

“I love you…” A shaky breath broke the silence. Well, the incomplete silence. The distant hum of the ice cream machine prevented it from being completely quiet..

_ What? Did he just say that? _

__

“What was that, Tsukki?”

_ Oh shit,  _ I  _ just said that.  _

“Uhm, nothing. I was just saying, if that shuts you up I may have to do it more often.” He gave a lopsided smirk. Yamaguchi gifted him a laugh and a shove on his shoulder. Tsukishima flushed, rubbing the back of his neck. __

_ Yeah, I could get used to this. _


End file.
